XP3 6.0 Release Overview

To download a PDF of the XP3 6.0 Release Overview click here

Abstract: This document provides a detailed overview of XP3® Suite Version 6.0 released May 3, 2010. Sections within the document detail each new enhancement, describe compatibility issues related to updating, and list all updated requirements. This document is intended for all current and prospective users and IT personnel who aid in the implementation and deployment of Interactive Edge’s XP3 Suite.

Introduction

Interactive Edge has enhanced its XP3 product offering based on user feedback. XP3 Suite Version 6.0 includes enhancements to the XP3 front-end for improved scalability, performance and usability.
Interactive Edge believes these latest enhancements continue to strengthen XP3 Suite’s position as the premier data analysis and reporting solution.

Compatibility with Previous Versions

Interactive Edge makes every attempt to minimize the impact of updating to new versions. Backwards compatibility is always maintained, meaning that the new version of the software supports documents and databases created by previous versions of the software.
Even though backwards compatibility is maintained, forwards compatibility cannot always be maintained, meaning that users cannot use newer versions of documents and databases with older versions of the software. Therefore, it is recommended that all users upgrade to the latest version at the same time to avoid compatibility issues.
Additionally, Interactive Edge strongly recommends that all users upgrade to the latest version in order to take advantage of the new enhancements and bug fixes.

Presentation Documents Format

No changes have been made to the format of the presentation documents or any of their components – XP3 tables, XP3 charts, XP3 intelligent text elements, etc. If you are currently on XP3 version 5.6 or later, there are no specific considerations for XP3 Presentation Builder/Viewer users. However, if you are upgrading from a version prior to 5.6, it is highly recommended that you upgrade the entire user base concurrently to avoid compatibility issues.

Relational Database Schema

No changes have been made to the relational database schema for this version. Therefore, if you are currently on XP3 version 5.6 or later, there are no specific considerations for XP3 Relational Data Engine users. However, if you are upgrading from a version prior to 5.6, it is highly recommended that you upgrade the entire user base concurrently to avoid compatibility issues.

MSAS Cube Structure

No changes have been made to the structure of the Microsoft Analysis Services cubes generated by XP3 Data Workshop. If you are currently on XP3 version 5.6 or later, there are no specific considerations for XP3 Data Warehouse users. However, if you are upgrading from a version prior to 5.6, it is highly recommended that you upgrade the entire user base concurrently to avoid compatibility issues.

New Features and Enhancements

This section outlines the specific enhancements and features contained in this release. Each enhancement includes a detailed description, affected components, features and benefits. Screenshots are provided where applicable for the particular feature being described.

XP3 Report Builder enables the user to connect, display and navigate Microsoft Analysis Services data from within Microsoft Excel workbooks. With an easy-to-use wizard-driven interface the XP3 Report Builder is an interactive data mining tool designed to help analysts perform data analysis in Excel to derive patterns and trends, perform what-if analysis and drill down to get answers to their business questions. The interface for XP3 Report Builder is the same interface used in XP3 Presentation Builder, allowing users to get started immediately.
Components Affected

XP3 Report Builder

Features and Benefits

• Simplify updates with one click refresh
• Analyze granular data as well as summarized data with segmentation and hierarchy tools
• Analyze data in regular worksheet mode and/or Pivot Table mode
• XP3 Pivot Tables automatically adjust when a user modifies the original data range
• XP3 Pivot Tables allow users to add calculated fields and/or calculated items when connected to Microsoft Analysis Services which by design is not supported in standard Excel Pivot Tables   
• XP3 Report Builder enables accurate aggregations beyond what Excel Pivot Tables calculates as totals

XP3 Chart Wizard

Improved chart building with the following new features related to display of labels, borders and colors.
Components Affected
XP3 Presentation Builder
Features and Benefits

• Users have the option to truncate the common text suffixes of data selections made for data series and data categories. When this option is activated, XP3 Chart will determine if there is a common suffix to all the items in the selection and will remove this suffix (XYZ button below) before the chart/table is displayed.

• XP3 Chart Wizard has the option to add labels to charts by default. Users can now select to display the series, category and values to their charts.

• XP3 Chart Wizard has the option to add borders to tables.

XP3 Color Add-in

Users will have the ability to assign specific colors to their charts.

Components Affected
XP3 Presentation Builder
Features and Benefits
Users have the option to edit chart color with XP3 Chart Colors file using the following methods:

• NameMatch - If the item is an exact case-sensitive match in the database, it will apply the color assigned to it. If the item cannot be found, it will check the RegexMatch.
• RegexMatch - In this sheet, you can use basic regular expressions to find name matches. For example, entering the word “printer,” XP3 will apply that color assigned to any item which contains the word “printer” in it. If the item cannot be found, it will go to the Default sheet.
• Default - If the item is not present in either NameMatch or RegexMatch, XP3 will assign the colors above starting from left to right.

Users can select the colors in the file or change colors by clicking an individual bar and picking a solid color from the available color palette in Excel.

XP3 MapPoint Add-in

Microsoft MapPoint 2010 Support
XP3 MapPoint Add-in is now included with XP3 Presentation Builder. The XP3 MapPoint Ad-in supports the current version of Microsoft MapPoint 2010.

XP3 Report Viewer contains a subset of the functionality of XP3 Report Builder. Distribute XP3 Report Viewer to users to allow them to change data selections in distributed Pivot Tables without allowing them to author new ones. The following features are available in XP3 Report Viewer:

• Connect to Database
• Setup Report
• Refresh Report
• Refresh All Reports

System Requirements

This section covers the software and hardware requirements associated with the client applications in XP3 Suite. These include XP3 Builder/Viewer, XP3 Data Tools and XP3 Automation.

General Hardware and Software Requirements

1 Only territory based maps are supported for MapPoint Europe 2004
2 Additional hard disk space required for presentation and data files
3 Included in the XP3-Full installation – if the machine is installed with MDAC 2.6 or higher, Jet 4.0 must be installed to create and manipulate Microsoft Access-based XP3 databases.
4 Included in the XP3-Full installation

Database Client Components Requirements

1 Oracle database server version 9i (9.2.0.4) or 10g (10.2.0.1) is required when storing XP3 Data Workshop databases to Oracle. Oracle 8 or greater can be used if Oracle is used only as a source for reading data.
2 The new SQL Server 2005 Native Client is not compatible with XP3’s requirements. This is why users of XP3 should connect to SQL Server 2005 via the old SQL Server 2000 ODBC driver.
3 Included in the XP3-Full installation.
4 Required when using XP3 SAP BW Data Source Adapter: required components include BW Add-on/OLE DB for OLAP Provider, BW Add-On/SAP GUI with SAP Logon Pad or SAP GUI/SAP GUI with SAP Logon

Database Server Requirements

1 Oracle database server version 9i (9.2.0.4) or 10g (10.2.0.1) is required when storing XP3 Data Workshop databases to Oracle. Oracle 8 or greater can be used if the Oracle is used only as a source for reading data.
2 Included in the XP3-Full installation
3 Required when using XP3 SAP BW Data Source Adapter.

Recommended Hardware Configurations

1 Provided that PAE X86 is supported by the hardware system. Both SQL Server RDBMS and Oracle support AWE on Windows Server 2003

To download a PDF of the XP3 6.0 Release Overview click here